Beverage drinking containers come in all sizes, shapes, colors and materials. Until relatively recently, most wine, aperitif and some mixed drink glasses had shaped reservoirs or bowls disposed atop a stem, and shaped according to traditional preferences for the beverages being served.
So-called “stemless” glasses are known in the art as an alternative for serving such beverages. These glasses typically retain the shape of a reservoir or bowl but without the stem as shown in prior art FIG. 1. However, the reservoir of such stemless glasses is often large and cumbersome to grasp, especially for persons having smaller hands or shorter fingers, or both. To meet this challenge, some manufacturers have added one or more indentations about midway between the top and bottom of the container to help the drinker steady or acquire better control of his or her grip on it as shown in prior art FIGS. 2a and 2b. However, in such a configuration the drinker must usually grasp the bowl of the glass at a location having the largest diameter of the bowl which, again, for smaller hands or shorter fingers is not comfortable nor practical.
In addition, such stemless glasses are often made of alternative, often non-breakable or disposable materials, such as plastic, polycarbonate, or other flexible material including, Polyethylene Terephthalate Glycol (PETG). However, these glasses also tend to be fairly flexible even at the midway point of the bowl, again making the drinker's grip uncertain. If the beverage is relatively cold and humidity is sufficiently high, the outside surface of the container may attract condensation, making the glassware slippery and even harder to grasp without deforming the flexible bowl and risking spillage of the beverage, and potentially loss of grip entirely.